5 Writing Tips for Middle Grade Novelists

Illustration from “The Conjurers” book three middle grade fantasy series.

Today’s preview of “The Conjurers” book three comes from the end of chapter one. One of my favorite tips for writing any story is to pull the reader from one chapter to the next. Theres a bunch of ways to do this. My favorite is mini cliffhangars. As you can see from the drawing above, chapter one ends with a ship wreck (technically a “carriage” wreck. If you’ve read the first two books you know what that means).

I try placing an illustration at the end of every chapter. It helps amplify the “what happens next” element of the text. In this case, the reader is left wondering about the fate of our heroes. From a technical aspect, I drew the ocean with a lot more ink than I had in book two. I wanted the drawings in book three to have more bite. The kids are a little older, a little more mature and so are the readers. The heavier lines and tocuh of realism softens the cartoony aspect the previous books.

And here are a few more simple tips for writing middle grade novels:

1. Conduct thorough research and include dialogue and scenes to create authentic prose

We need to ensure that we are not crafting a cookie-cutter story.

The first step is to conduct thorough research and include dialogue and scenes to create authentic prose. We should start with the basics and ask ourselves, what kind of story do I want to tell? What do I want the readers to take away from my article? Who is my audience? What are their needs, wants, desires?

2. Use simple grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary to make the reading experience pleasurable

This is a beginner's guide to writing in a more human-like way, and it's not as hard as you might think.

The main obstacle is the preference for simple grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary.

For example, "I love to eat chocolate" is less complex than "I really enjoy the scrumptious taste of chocolate."

We also need to use verbs instead of adjectives when describing someone or something.

Instead of saying "The apple tastes sweet," we can say "The apple tastes delicious."

3. Know your audience and what they like in their books e.g. funny dialogue, character development, or suspenseful plot twists

Know your audience and what they like in their books.

For example, if you are writing a book for children, you'll want to make sure that it is filled with funny dialogue. If your book is more action-oriented, develop the characters so the reader can get invested.

4. Seek feedback from publishers or writing organizations such as SCBWI

Although this is not a group you should join to find a publisher, it will help you narrow down your list of publishers to send your work to. If you are unsure what publisher would be the best fit for your book, SCBWI is an invaluable resource for writers in children’s publishing.

SCBWI stands for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and it is an organization that provides resources and networking opportunities to those who want to get started or advance in children's publishing. It also offers workshops, webinars, conferences and regional events for its members.

Every year SCBWI publishes the Writer's Market which contains up-to-date listings of all the agents, editors, publishers, contests, festivals and more in the children’s

5. Take classes on how to write middle grade novels from an experienced teacher so your project can be successful

For those who are interested in writing novels for young readers, there are a few guidelines to follow.

1) You should always come up with a backstory for your protagonist even if you have not revealed it to the reader.

2) There are a few common mistakes that writers commonly make when they build their plots. One of the most common is focusing too much on their protagonist and neglecting other characters or events. This can lead to a story that has no suspense, tension, and conflict.

3) Keep your sentences as short as possible and make sure that you use descriptive language.

4) Use simple words that children can understand instead of big words.

Key Elements of a Good Middle Grade Novel

Some key elements of a good middle grade novel would be:

- The main character should be relatable to the reader.

- The story should have an interesting plot that is not too predictable.

- The book should have likable characters and a happy ending.

- It should focus on aspects of the world that children are most interested in, such as school, friends, family, pets, or hobbies.

Five Bonus Tips for Writing Great Middle Grade Books

1. Write with a child's voice in your head

2. Ask yourself, "What would make this an interesting story?"

3. Make sure all the stakeholders are on board before you start writing.

4. Aim for a diverse cast of characters to help readers see themselves in the story.

5. Create a full character arc to give readers someone to root for.

That’s it for today! Again, send any and all questions my way and let me know if you’re enjoying these posts.

Illustrations from "The Conjurers" Book Two

Here’s a two page spread from the end of chapter eight. I love ending chapters with a cliffhanger illustration. It’s fun to switch from text into a cinematic envisioning of the story. Plus, it keeps pulling readers along into the next chapter.

This drawing features the main setting in book two, Plomboria, the Jimjarian city. You meet several Jimjarians in book one, but it’s not until the second installment when you get to see more of their culture and a hint of their history. A history that plays a major part in book three. Can’t say too much. What I can say is that when you start writing a tale, you rarely see all the interwoven histories and characters. Things seem almost too simple, but you trust your gut and plug along. Then like magic, this entire world unravels before you. It’s like an archaeologist finding a pottery fragment in the dirt, then digging carefully away, almost on blind faith, in hopes of finding a lost civilization.

A brief update on the book series.

Time usually flies, however in the case of "The Conjurers", the series seemed to have fallen into a temporal loop. Much of that was because, from the beginning, I was trying to do something different. Found a few potholes but also found a few things that worked. So where does it stand now?My editor and I came up with a timeline with definitive dates and goals to get this done. A lot of what slowed us down was having portions of the stories told through sequential art. Prose blended into comics and vice versa. That's great if you have the text finalized. We didn't. So, change some prose and you had to change the drawings. Change a drawing and you had to add some prose. Round and round it went.  We made a few compromises on the scope of the illustrations and also put all our focus on getting the prose done.This weekend I sent out book two. Now I'm onto the final pass on book three and simultaneously illustrating book one. That means book one is actually, really, truly in production. Which also means I should have a publication date soon. The next few months will be more insane than the last few (in which I was only re-writing one book).  along the fall through this rabbit hole I'll post updates on the illustrations for book one and the manuscript for book three. Confused yet? Me too. That's why I have it written down. Either way, I think the trip will end up in wonderland, which is not a bad place at all.

Butt in chair time

A quick morning post to loosen the fingers. It's butt in chair time. Last night was the pre-visualization for what I'll write this morning. No make up trailers, or camera shots to set up. Get the actors on the page and let 'em have at it. Let the agonizing fun begin.

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